We started with twelve tadpoles of various nationalities, apparently, and now have four left. We released the third tree frog with four legs though he still had a large tail. We poured him into the back pond and watched as he swam excitedly around the underwater stems and roots. We followed him for a bit until he got lost amidst the rocks on the bottom of the pond.
Next, one of the larger ones grew front legs. That was interesting for at first it looked as though he had only one front leg, a mutant, alien, Star Trek frog perhaps. But, as I have a tendency to hang over the top of the bowl and watch, I discovered that he tucked the fourth leg along side his body. Then he would draw both front legs along side his body or release both of them to float with all four legs hanging down. Curiouser and curiouser, as someone said in Alice. After a day of that we decided the guy out to leave home and earn his own living; we took him to the back pond and dumped him into the nice clear, clean water. We were down to eight. It felt so good having only eight that the next day we caught four more of the big ones that were definitely growing legs and released them too. We took a powerful flashlight along so that we could peer into the water and watch how they enjoyed or used their new freedom. Three of them disappeared quickly, but one swam rapidly all the way across the pond and hid himself among the rocks on the bottom. So. Unless a snake gets into the pond (that happens once in a while), they may be safe enough for the time being. Since then, I have had to feed the fish in the back pond since Mary's cataract surgery. (Go figure). When I go back there, I stand at the side looking into the pond hoping to catch a glimpse of the little guys. But nothing ever moves along the bottom. The tadpoles have now disappeared as thoroughly as the two turtles that Mary paid thirteen dollars apiece for. She even bought them an island for safe sun-bathing but they seemed to have gone elsewhere almost immediately. Where on earth does a two to three inch turtle go when he is already in the only small pond in the neighborhood? Perhaps the tree frogs have gone round the subdivision bend to serenade the neighbors farther down the road.
In any case we have four left: one has fairly strong back legs, one has legs started to emerge, one is just large. All three hang together frequently, as the kids sometimes say, or the simply swim around in circles or eat boiled lettuce, or just sit on the bottom, rather laid back. The fourth one is the small very dark dude whose body is about an eighth of an inch long. We will probably keep these guys till they turn into something interesting, especially the little dark one. He will probably turn out to have arrived from one of Jupiter's moons that is thought to contain water.
I did have a bit of a scary experience at the bowl this afternoon. I was as usual hanging over the tank watching the remaining guys nibble lettuce and come to the surface every once in a while to release an air bubble, when I apparently fell asleep. I awake with a start just as my face was about to enter the bowl and hit the water and rock. I left the kitchen and the tadpoles, went to the bedroom, and took a nap.